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Saturday, January 19, 2013

OPI Mariah Carey Spring 2013 Collection - Swatches and Review

Today I have the Mariah Carey Collection to share with you. Being a long time fan, I was very excited to hear that OPI would launch this collection. I had read about her love neutral polishes so I never expected her line to include glitter or more unique polishes. The set includes 8 polishes, 4 of which are Liquid Sand or textured polishes as I like to call them.

First I'll show you the non-sand polishes.

A Butterfly Moment

A Butterfly Moment is a mauve pink with a slight shimmer and the only neutral in the line. From the look of the bottle I thought the formula would be more sheer but it's actually more opaque. It went on smoothly in 2 coats.

Sprung

A golden rose-bronzy shimmer with a very thin formula. I had to use 4 coats to achieve this look. It's very pretty and reminds me of Warm and Fozzie but with more red and less depth.

Pink Yet Lavender

I topped off Sprung with the only glitter from the line, Pink Yet Lavender. I used one thick coat. PYL is a gorgeous holographic glitter with small and medium hex glitter throughout. It almost reminds me of Teenage Dream but it's turned up about 4 octaves. Very glamorous!

Anti-Bleak

I haven't heard much buzz about Anti-Bleak but it's really beautiful. A vibrant plum that applied smoothly in 2 coats. A surprise favorite.

Now let's take a look at the Liquid Sands. I love an interesting textured polish.

The Impossible

A bright cherry red that leans more pink. Is that even possible? The base is more pink with red micro and medium hex glitters. It even has star glitter! I applied 2 thin coats which dried in about 5 minutes to a matte finish.

The Impossible with Topcoat

Even more beautiful when wet. I applied 2 coats of Gelous Nail Gel Coat to achieve a smooth look.

Stay the Night

This was love at first sight. In original pictures I thought the glitter was red, but it's actually more of a pink-fuchsia. I used 2 thin coats.

Stay the Night with Topcoat

I followed up with 2 coats of Gelous to achieve a jellied effect. I love the glossy look!

Can't Let Go

Very stunning purple sand effect. It's much deeper and vibrant than my camera could capture. A surprise favorite. I used 2 thin coats.

Can't Let Go with Topcoat

I used 2 coats of Gelous to achieve the high gloss effect. This was the only sand that didn't look like a jelly with a topcoat but it's still gorgeous.

Get Your Number

Another gorgeous sand, this time in a beautiful blue. I love how textured it is, like blue concrete. My camera made it about a shade lighter for some reason. I used 3 coats here because I tried to make it darker, but only 2 are necessary. It took about 15 minutes to dry because I used so many coats.

Get Your Number with Topcoat

Looks amazing with a topcoat added. I used 2 coats of Gelous again to achieve this look.

If you haven't noticed, all of the Liquid Sands get lighter when they dry and are closer to the color in the bottle when wet. Drying time varied from 5-15 minutes. The thicker the coat the longer it takes to dry. Most of them only require 2 very thin coats. When I noticed how dark the blue got with additional coats, I kept applying it, but it wasn't necessary. Instructions say no topcoat is required, but they are so pretty with a topcoat on, and most of them look like jellies layered over a glitter polish.

Overall I really love the collection, especially the Liquid Sands. Some people may not like this look, but I find them very interesting on the nail, and a good change from cremes. At least they came out with a mini collection so that you can sample each color before committing to large bottle. My favorites from the collection are Stay the Night, Can't Let Go, Anti-Bleak and Get Your Number.

The OPI Liquid Sands are now available at fine retailers that carry OPI.